CRS launches USAID’s BHA funded Disaster Risk Management Project in Yap and Chuuk
Yap, Federated States Micronesia– The U.S. government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), announced a $2.4 million USD grant to Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to increase the disaster resilience of vulnerable communities in Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), by helping 38 communities in Chuuk and Yap states effectively prepare for and respond to disasters.
Throughout the two-year project, CRS will work closely with municipal chiefs, village chiefs, mayors, community leaders and families to build their capacity to reduce their disaster risks,
create community and household disaster response plans, increase access to savings and lending opportunities, promote climate smart agriculture, and increase water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) knowledge and access. The Addressing Disaster-risk, Achieving Preparedness Together (ADAPT) project aims to reach 21,000 individuals across 14 villages and lagoon islands in Chuuk State and 24 municipalities, outer island settlements, and outer islands in Yap State.
Building on CRS’s experience in Yap creating disaster risk management plans through the USAID’s BHA funded ACT on Yap programming, the ADAPT project will expand access to programming initiatives like climate resilient agriculture, community projects, and savings and lending groups, while strengthening the alignment of municipal and state level disaster response interventions.
The award exemplifies USAID’s BHA commitment to provide lifesaving assistance to people in natural disasters and complex crises and aligns with CRS’ guiding principles of human dignity, the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, and a preferential option for the poor. Through the ADAPT project, USAID’s BHA is making critical assistance available on a large enough scale, and covering multi-year timeframes, to achieve impact in some of the most vulnerable and underserved communities in FSM, while working in collaboration with national and communal actors.